Saudade
by Ephemeral Paranoia
Summary: "Love is passion, obsession, someone you can't live without. I say, fall head over heels. Find someone you can love like crazy and who will love you the same way back... But you have to try it, cause if you haven't tried it, you haven't lived." - William Parrish. Jonathan Crane/OC.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Veronica Hale was just sixteen when she first met Jonathan Crane. She was a new student, transferring late into his first period class. Jonathan was a tall, thin, and sickly pale child back then, when everyone had bullied him. He heard the teacher's voice to pay attention as he introduced the new student to the class. Jonathan could care less; but the lonesome side of him was hopeful. He sighed and gazed up to see a young girl with light brown hair and light, possibly mint green eyes and petite with a her guard up based on her body language. Her head was down as she clutched her hands together. Something about the way she was gasping her delicate, thin fingers was perplexing; as if it was to comfort herself.

"Ah, Veronica Hale isn't it?" The teacher, Mr. Ford, started. The girl, Veronica, nodded. Mr. Ford smiled at her, "Good, why don't you sit in the back, next to Mr. Crane," He said, pointing to the back of the room, where Jonathan was. She let out a shakily sigh and nodded, proceeding to the back of the room. She took a seat next to Jonathan, who took a glance at her. She was pretty, he denounced. If he didn't already have a crush on Sherry Squires, then maybe he would make attempts to get to know her. He sighed mentally, remembering that Sherry was with Bo Griggs, his tormentor. His eyes flickered towards the new girl and saw her staring down at her notebook, seemingly bored. He was tempted to make sme sort of a conversation with her, but he stopped when some of his classmates whispering among themselves.

"Can't believe that she's forced to sit next to that Crane kid!" "Yeah, he's such a freak!" "I feel sorry for her already..." And there it was. Even without doing anything, they were already planting ideas in her mind. Veronica remained unfazed, as if she wasn't even listening to them. She merely glanced up at the clock hanging above the door, waiting for this period to end. The bell rung Jonathan gathered his material and looked to see that Veronica was the first to leave the classroom. As if staying in this room would be the end of her.

Veronica hastily exited the classroom and headed to her next class, which was a free period. From what she saw from her first period, they were all ignoramus infidels. It was mean for what they said about the boy she was sitting next to, he was different from what she heard. But what was wrong with that? She asked herself. Since she had free period, Veronica headed to the library. She loved books just as much as she loved her instruments. Upon entering the library, she saw no one in sight. Perfect.

Jonathan decided to head to the library, he prefer not to be in the presence of any of his classmates. Especially since he had recently recovered from the beatings his tormentors gave him. The library was vacant as usual, he sighed in contempt and walked inside, setting aside his bag. All was silence until he heard the sound a violin stings. He was perplexed at first. There should be no one in the library. Curious, he followed the sound of the violin strings and turned around the corner to see Veronica sitting on a chair as she played the viola. Jonathan leaned against the shelf listening to her play. It was, strangely, peaceful, Jonathan closed his eyes. The music came to abrupt stop, making him open his eyes as she stared at him. He leaned off of the shelf and stared back at her.

"Hi," He said, awkwardly. She nodded at him, not saying anything, "Uh, I heard you playing, it was nice..." He said. She smiled softly and turned away to hide the small blush. She then gaze back at him. He had messy, dark brown hair, the bangs slightly covering his icy blue eyes that were hidden behind a pair of black framed glasses. His clothes were significantly worn out as there were patches that covered the holes in his pants and sweater vest. There was a fresh bruise on his left cheek. Did someone punch him? She thought, knowing that he didn't had that bruise before.

"Thank you," She replied. Her voice was soft and soothing. He was surprised to hear how quiet her voice was.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, "Don't you have class?"

"Don't you?" She retorted. He swore that he could hear a slight sass in her quiet voice.

"I rather not..." He trailed off, trying to find the right words, "...Be near my classmates at the moment..."

"I see..." She nodded in understanding. It was quite obvious that he was being bullied, why by the whispers she heard in class and that bruise confirmed it all, "What's your name?" She asked.

"Uh, Jonathan, Jonathan Crane..."He trailed off, "What about you?"

"Veronica Hale," She replied. There was a small silence before Jonathan broke it.

"You didn't really answered my question," He said, "About why you're here..."

"I have free period, I finished most of my major classes except for a few," She replied, she continued to stare at him; specifically his bruise, "Are you alright?" She asked, "I would get that bruise treated if I were you..." Jonathan immediately placed a hand on the bruise he had received and looked away.

"It's nothing," He denied.

"It certainly does not look like nothing," She said, now standing up, adjusting her bag as she made her way towards him, "Here, why don't we head to the nurse's office to get you treated."

"I'm fine," He sighed, stubbornly. Veronica merely shook her head.

"Obviously you're not," She then, although hesitantly, grasp his wrist and tugged him along to follow her. Jonathan stopped as he pulled out of her grasp.

"I said I'm fine!" He snapped, Veronica just gave him a hard stare before retorting.

"Oh yes, so you say, but that atrocious bruise says otherwise," She grasped his wrist once again and lead him to the nurse. Jonathan scowled at her, but reluctantly followed after the girl. They reached the nurse's office and saw a kind, elderly woman sitting in the corner of the room, reviewing over some paper.

"Uh, miss," Veronica started, the nurse gazed over to see Veronica and Jonathan at the door. She was about to greet the girl but noticed Jonathan with his nasty bruise.

"Oh, not again Jonathan!" She sighed and went over to him. Veronica gave the nurse a quizzical expression.

"This isn't the first time?" She questioned Jonathan, but he remained silent.

"Unfortunately, dear, no," The nurse replied, "Thank you for being him in, miss..."

"Hale. Veronica Hale," She said, "I just started today..." She replied.

"I see," The nurse nodded, "You can both take a seat over there, I'll be there in a minute," Veronica nodded and took a seat next to Jonathan.

"You know you didn't have to stay here," He muttered softly, "This is a daily thing for me."

"Well then maybe we should change that..." She replied. Jonathan gave her puzzled expression.

"'We'?" He asked.

"From the way I see it, you have no friends and neither do I, it's only logical that I stick with someone I'm already aquatinted," She said and gave him a sideward glance, "Besides, I kinda like you," She said. Jonathan looked at her, mildly surprise. Jonathan remained silent as he adjusted his glasses. Veronica saw that he was taken a back by her words as she saw him try to hide behind his glasses. He had the typical cute, nerd look though there were some acne and scars prominent on his face. She giggled to herself. Cute, she thought. He was adorable looking in her mind. Although sickly pale, she didn't mind. Jonathan flickered his blue eyes towards her, taking in features. Although he hated to admit it, she was defiantly prettier and cuter than Sherry Squires he thought to himself, she had the innocent, smart, violinist girl vibe in comparison to Sherry's preppy, cheerleader one. It was quite...refreshing to Jonathan. The bell for next period rung, snapping him from his thoughts. Veronica stood.

"I have to head to my next class now," She said. Jonathan looked back down at his hands, clutching his slightly teared pants, "Maybe I'll see you at lunch," She added and grabbed her bag before leaving. Jonathan watched after her as she left the nurse's office. Maybe today's wasn't so bad as he thought.

* * *

 **So first Jonathan Crane fic, not really sure if this is good enough for all of you. In my mind I had this little head canon that a young Jonathan is slightly awkward around girls and is the type to get his hopes when he sees a new student but that's but me. Th** **e first couple of chapters will show how they got together and then follow the events of Batman Begins/ The Dark Knight and I apologize for any mistakes.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Next period was band or music class, Veronica was particularly looking forward to this class. She hoped that they were more pleasant people compared to first period. She sighed as she stood in front of the door. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply before letting out a sigh. Veronica opened her eyes and walked right inside. There were more girls than boys in the class, though that didn't ease her anxiety. The teacher, a blonde haired woman, noticed Veronica's presence and made her way towards her.

"You must be the new transfer student, right?" She asked, Veronica nodded and showed the woman her schedule, "Alright, Veronica, I'm Ms. Rooney, your music teacher, you can take a seat next to Maya over there in the corner," She said, pointing to where a girl with long, wild dirty blonde hair wearing a black jacket sat. Veronica sighed and made her way towards to back corner, trying to avoid the eyes of the other students. Once she reached to her destination, she pulled up a chair and placed her bag on the ground. The girl next to her was leaning back in her seat, brown eyes on Veronica.

"Hey there scruff," She greeted, surprising Veronica.

"'Scruff'?" Veronica gave the girl a puzzled gazed.

"Sorry, it's just something I say," The girl said, sitting up and leaned forward in her seat, "So your new here, huh?" She asked, Veronica nodded. The girl had a mischievous grin on her lips, "Nice, name's Maya Wilkinson," She said.

"Veronica Hale," Veronica said. Maya's grin widened a bit and she sat up.

"Nice to meet cha, scruff," She said. Ms. Rooney then started the class, much to Veronica's relief. There was something troublesome about that girl. Lunch came around and Veronica was seemingly lost as she stood with a tray in her hand. She gazed around the flooded cafeteria and proceed to walk around. After a few minutes of walking, she saw an empty table and took a seat. If she had continued to look she would have saw Jonathan, sitting at a table all alone. Jonathan had apparently saw her and was tempted to call her, but a thought came to his mind and decided against the idea. He wanted to spare her from becoming an easy target to Bo and his gang, who were flicking plastic forks at him this very instant. She sighed and was about to eat when she saw the girl from her second period make her way towards her.

"Hey there scruff," She greeted, holding her tray. Veronica looked up, genuinely confused.

"Hello...?" She replied, warily. Maya pulled up a seat and place her tray on the table. Jonathan stiffened as he saw that the notorious bad girl, Maya Wilkinson, talking to Veronica. Maya slowly leaned down towards Veronica.

"You're in my seat, scruff," She said in a low voice.

"I'm sorry, but if this were your seat, your name would be on it," Veronica stated, "And if I remember correctly," She turned slightly to look down at the chair, "There's no name on it," Her voice held a innocent tone to it, but Jonathan could hear the brimming sass. A few seconds later, Maya pushed Veronica out of the seat, shocking the girl as the other took a seat. Jonathan was never the type to care for these situations, but even he knew that you don't mess with Maya Wilkinson. Veronica huffed as she stood up, her mint green eyes narrowing at the dirty blonde. The next thing Jonathan saw was the young violinist pushing the notorious bad girl out the seat as she had done to the other. Silence filled the air as everyone saw the whole exchange. Maya stood up, dusting her jacket and had a small stare down with Veronica, who held her ground, although Jonathan could sense by her body language that she was slightly nervous. A minute later, Maya smirked.

"Pretty and gutsy..." She muttered, "I like ya, kid," She said, pulling out a seat.

"I'm sixteen, not a kid," Veronica replied taking a seat, Maya scoffed.

"Yeah, well not a woman either!" The blonde smirked, sitting down next to her. Veronica sighed about to take a bite of her lunch when her eyes made contact with Jonathan's. The boy saw this and averted his eyes. Seeing this she stood up and made her way towards him, peaking Maya's and Jonathan's tormentor's interest.

"What are you doing here?" He asked in a hush whisper, gazing over shoulder to where Bo and his gang sat. Their eyes staring intently on the two.

"I believe that I did say that I'll see you at lunch...well not exactly in those exact words," She mumbled, "But you see my point."

"You shouldn't be near me," He said, "You'll become a target for the others if you get to close," He muttered.

"I don't care about what others think," She answered, "I wanted to be here," Jonathan gave her another look.

"Well you should, they'll make your senior year hell if they see you," He pressed.

"Then I suppose I have to make sure that they don't see me," Jonathan sighed at her words and gazed back over his shoulder. He froze when he saw three burly boys wearing leather man jackets.

"Too late..." He muttered.

"Well you would boys look at his," The leader of the trio started, "Seems like Ichabod had found himself a girlfriend," He said. Veronica tilted her head, confused.

"I beg your pardon?" She asked, "There's not need to sound so arrogant," She said, narrowing her eyes at them.

"Ooh, this ones got fire, boys!" He said as the other two snickered in response.

"Leave her alone, Bo," Jonathan muttered. There was a pause of silence before Jonathan was roughly grabbed by the front of his sweater vest. Veronica gasped as she saw Bo lifting Jonathan with one hand.

"Looks like one beating wasn't enough wasn't it?" He said, Veronica saw that no one was doing anything to stop this. She moved between the two and pushed Bo away from Jonathan.

"Leave him alone!" She said, she faced Bo and his crew gathering everyone's attention, "You sir are the world's biggest cockroach for your unparalleled lack of human decency! You will die friendless and alone!" She turned her back on him and went to help Jonathan, who's eyes were wide open. From the other table, Maya's smirk grew.

"How dare you say that to my boyfriend!" A shrill voice was heard. Veronica turned to see an average blonde cheerleader. She had the snotty and preppy side down, alright...

"Oh, I apologize, but you should teach you boyfriend some mannerism on human aspects," Veronica muttered, though unfortunately Bo heard her.

"What was that, you little bitch?" He seethed, she turned back to Bo, arms crossed.

"Oh good comeback, like I haven't heard that one before," She feigned surprise. Maya then stifled a laugh as this girl was a riot. The dirty blonde stood up, seeing just how awesome this new girl was.

"Man, scruff," She said, slinging her arm around Veronica's shoulder, "You are a riot, we should hang out now..."She said and looked up at Bo and Sherry and their little preppy gang, "You socs better take a chill pill, this one's with me," She said, "And keep in mind that I know where all of you live, wouldn't want another incident like last year right, Sherry girl?" Maya grinned deviously, eyeing the blonde's hair. Instantly, the cheerleader gasped as she grasped her blonde locks.

"You wouldn't!" She exclaimed. Maya merely shrugged.

"Oh please sweetheart," She scoffed, "We all know fully that I would, just for the kicks," She grinned. With that, Sherry huffed, turning on her heels and walked away hastily with Bo and his crew following behind. Jonathan was in shock as to what had just happened. He was an intellectual being, but even his mind couldn't process on what just happened. Did Maya Wilkinson, the school's notorious bad girl just indirectly help him ward off Bo Griggs and his gang just because...she was impressed with Veronica...?

Veronica exhaled deeply, finally dropping the bravado she was trying to keep up and gazed back at Jonathan, "Are you okay?" She asked, sincerely. Jonathan snapped out of his shock.

"I'm fine..." He muttered. His eyes gazed back at her.

"Man, scruff, all of this for a nerd?" Maya asked as she put her arms around the two, Jonathan stiffened. Physical contact was a definite no no, Maya smirked, "Well you two are an odd couple," She said. Veronica took Maya's arm off of her and shook her head.

"No, no," She said, "We're not a couple, we're, in a sense, friends, acquaintances at most," Maya gave the two a look.

"Okay, sure, scruff," She said. The bell rung, signaling everyone to head to their next class, "So what class you got next, scruff?" Maya asked.

"Do you always call everyone 'scruff'? Or is that just your own personal nickname for me?" Veronica mused. Maya merely shrugged, "Well I have History next, with a Mr. Dolton..."She read off her schedule. Maya's expression brighten up as she still had one arm slung around Jonathan.

"Oh would ya look at that, me and Ichabod have to same class with you!" She exclaimed, then gazed down at Jonathan, "Right, Ichabod?" Jonathan scowled at the nickname and grumbled a small "Whatever..." Veronica sighed in relief, knowing that there was going to be two familiar faces in her class eased her anxiety.

"Well then we could walk to class together..." She suggested.

"Yeah! Great idea scruff!" Maya said, a devious plot in mind. Veronica smiled as she stood next to Jonathan, who still seemed to be annoyed with Maya calling him that nickname. The three then proceed to head to their next class.

* * *

 **Hello! Chapter 2 is up! Thank you to The Puppeteer Patient 120402 for the review and DesertMortician for the follow and fave. I'll be making mistakes like that, I'm putting out there that I'm not a professional write, I wish I was though. Also the idea that oc befriends Jonathan and is his only friend is being over used in the fanfics I've read so, I've added more characters that give it that more realistic high school experience. Hope you like this chapter, I'm working on other fics as well so I won't update as fast as you would all like me too.**

 **Edit 5.29.15: I just got the notification of the 3 guest reviews who reviewed this story, for some reason I get the notifications for guest reviews 3 days later, but thank you for the reviews!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The trio arrived to class a few minutes before the bell was supposed to ring, a young boy with brown hair and eyes dressed in an orange sweater vest and khakis, appeared; leaning against the door frame.

"Maya," He said in a suave tone, to which the dirty blonde eye rolled.

"Fletcher..." She sighed, "What do you want?" The boy, Fletcher, smiled, revealing the braces he had.

"I just wanted to see the lovely face of my Maya!" He said. Maya crossed her arms, tilting her head back at his claim.

"Right," She nodded and wrapped an arm around Veronica's shoulder as Jonathan stood by next to her; a bit disgruntled though, "Scruff, Ichabod, meet Fletcher," She said, "The smartest kid in the whole school!" This earned a snort from Jonathan.

"Fletcher Dolton! At your service!" He said dramatically and bowed. Veronica tilted her head to the side.

"'Dolton'?" She asked, "As in the teacher for this class?" He nodded as he stood up straight before striding closer to Veronica.

"Why hello there, we haven't met before," He grinned at her, "My safe word is apples."

"Hello...?" Veronica greeted with uncertainty, "I'm Veronica Hale, I'm new here," She said. His light brown eyes brighten at this newfound information.

"Well, I would be honored to show you around the school maybe even the city if you want-Ah! Apples! Apples!" The boy was cut off mid rant when Maya took hold of his ear, earning yelps of pain from the boy and led him away from Jonathan and Veronica.

"Slow down, Don Juan," Maya said and leaned down to the ear she had in one hand, "She's Ichabod's girl," She whispered.

"What? Since when?" Fletcher asked in a strained voice, since Maya still held his ear, "Didn't she started today? She doesn't seem like the type to get a date on the first day of school."

"Not yet, but I know a match when I see one," She said.

"Oh, you mean like us-Ah! Apples! Apples!" He cried as Maya, whose lips were pressed into a thin line, gripped his ear tighter.

"For the last time! We will never have any chance together!" She exclaimed exasperatedly, "And it's senior year, by the time the end of the year rolls around they'll be voted cutest nerd couple! Even more votes than Griggs and Sherry girl," She said, a mischievous glint in her eyes as she eyed said future couple, who were bpth standing to the side awkwardly as she and Fletcher were conspiring together.

"What makes you so sure?" Fletcher asked, curious as the what the dirty blonde's plan was.

"Why it's simple, my dear genius nerd," She said.

"You said 'my'," Fletcher smiled dreamily. This boy is hopeless, Maya huffed in her mind and proceeded to continue on.

"Listen, the Hallowen party is just a month from now,"Maya explained, "All we gotta do is make sure those two have a thing for each other and then boom! Instant power couple!" She denounced.

"Easier said then done," Fletcher disagreed, "Last time I checked, Crane's got a 'secret' crush on Sherry Squires since freshman year," He said, "There's no way he's gonna get over something like that in one month, he's still waiting for the day Sherry sees how much of a ignoramus Griggs is and leaves him for Crane!" He added, albeit dramatically.

"And you know this how?" Maya questioned, raising a brow. He merely smiled.

"An evil, mastermind, nerd has his ways, just one of the perks for when I take over the world," Maya rolled her eyes at him as he was having his "Take over the world!" complex scenes and continued on with her plan.

"Well, either way, that's where my job comes in," Maya grinned, letting out an evil chuckle as she rejoiced in the idea of messing the perky, blonde cheerleader. The bell rung and Maya took went to her assigned seat, which was located in the middle of the class; second row to the right. Fletcher took his seat behind her, his hands on top of the other as he was eager to learn. Jonathan sighed as he went to the back of the room and took his seat. Veronica stood idly in front of the classroom, wondering where to sit. Thankfully for her, the teacher arrived.

"Alright, minions!" He exclaimed, "Take you seats and turn to page 555-OH! You are not a familiar face!" He paused when he saw Veronica. She stood in her place and hastily handed him her schedule to him. He quickly read over the paper and smiled as he handed the paper back to her, "Ok Ms. Hale, why don't you take a seat in front of Mr. Crane in the back," He said pointing to any empty seat in front of Jonathan. Maya smiled at this. Thank you, Dolton, She smirked.

"Alright, class today we will be having a group project of four," He said, "You'll choose a number between one and-"

"I chose fifty!" Fletcher proclaimed loudly as he stood up in his seat. Mr. Dolton gazed at his eccentric son and sighed.

"Fletcher, fifty is not one of the numbers," He said.

"I still chose fifty!" The boy said. Dolton was about to argue back, but he already deals with his shenanigans at home. No need to add more shenanigans at school.

"Fine, I'll put you and your group as _fifteen_ ," He said. Fletcher smiled and sat in his seat. Maya turned around to face Fletcher and grinned as her plan was slowly setting itself in motion.

"Operation: Instant Power Couple is a go!" She said, standing up as she went over to Jonathan's seat. She placed her hands on his desk to get his attention. Jonathan slowly gazed up to see Maya grinning down at him, "Sup, partner," A few seconds passed before he stood up and made his way over to the teacher's desk.

"Mr. Dolton, may I please work on this project by myself!" He pleaded. There was no way he was going to work with others, especially Maya Wilkinson! She was a definite no!

"Well, Jonathan, usually I would let you do that since we've had an odd number of students," He started, "But since Ms. Hale has now joined the class," He paused as if he was thinking on the thought, "No," He said, promptly before busying himself in grading past papers. Maya chuckled as she walk up behind Jonathan, hearing the whole exchange. She placed one hand on his shoulder.

"Hi there, I'm pretty sure we've got a project to work on, Ichabod," She smirked. Jonathan sighed as he hung his head. It was ironic how he thought this was starting to become a good day...

* * *

 **Chapter 3 is up. Not really anything interesting, but i felt the need to write this just to provide some glimpse Maya's plans for Veronica and Jonathan. Wow I'm feel really honored that ScaryScarecrows reviewed this story, thank you for that. I'll try to update soon as I can now that my exams are finished. Thank you for those who reviewed, favorite, and followed this fic. Again I apologize for any grammar and spelling mistakes**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A week had passed, Veronica had been doing well in school. Since Veronica befriended Maya, no bullies had came into contact with her. She was thankful for that. She, Fletcher, and Maya had started that project that Mr. Dolton gave them, but wondered why Jonathan has never come over to her or Fletcher's homes when they worked on it. She sighed as she let go of the thought. It was a typical Friday afternoon, she was currently on her way home, ignorant to her surrounding up until she heard a scuffle around the corner. She paused and saw Bo and his idiotic squad towering over a hunched over figure in the student parking lot.

"Had enough, Ichabod?" Bo sneered, kicking Jonathan in the ribs. Seeing this, Veronica reached into her back to take out the small canister of mace her father had given her (just incase, for protection, he said). She frowned on this and made herself known.

"Hey! Quit it!" She said. They all look up to see her. Oh dear lord...She thought nervously, "L-leave him alone!"

"Aw would ya look at that," Bo cooed, "Your girlfriend's here to save the day, how sweet," He mocked, giving Crane one last kick. Veronica gripped the strap of her bag. This was definitely a well thought out plan. She didn't have Maya to back her up this time. It was just her, her books...and a can of mace... Oh! Wait! She had her shoes too! Yes, _well_ thought out indeed...

"Why don't you go back to whatever little girls do," Bo shrugged her off. Veronica was miffed, she was average height! She only seemed short in comparison because this ogre was bigger in height. Out of natural instincts, Veronica took off her shoes used them to hit the goons while she used her bag to hit Bo upside the head. He and his two goons quickly turned to face her, to which she retaliated by spraying the mace in their faces. Their pained screams were heard as she manured her way towards Jonathan and pulled him up by his arm.

"C'mon!" She said hastily, grabbing his wrist and lead him back inside the school to get him treated. The walk to the nurse was silent, neither of the two said one word. They arrived at the nurse's office only to find the door lock, "Darn it..." She muttered, "It's locked!" She said trying to open the door.

"She's probably gone home, it is after school hours..." Jonathan stated. Veronica huffed. She glance over at him noticing the condition he was in. His glasses were cracked and a trail of dried blood from his nose to his worn out sweater vest, not to mention the bruising bump on his forehead and disheveled dark hair.

"You're right, but you need to be treated right away," She stated, knowing that he was in no condition to head home by himself; specially not with Griggs and his goons still out and about.

"I'm fine," He replied, rather harshly.

"You appearance says otherwise..." She countered, calmly. Jonathan narrowed his eyes at her, a scowl upon his features. She saw this, but merely brushed them off as a defense mechanism. She couldn't blame the poor lad. She would honestly react the same, well, more or less. She sighed and took hold of his wrist again, "Here, we'll head back to my home and patch you up, my dad could probably fix those glasses up for you," She said.

"Thank you for the offer, but no," He replied, curtly.

"It wasn't an offering," She said.

The walk to Veronica's home wasn't long, it took about twenty minutes at most. The silence was soothing to the two, instead of deafening nor awkward. Upon reaching her house, Jonathan was slightly surprised to see that they stood in front of a hotel. He regarded her to live in a more...classical home. But then again, he has heard of the saying "Don't judge a book by its cover."

"We're here," She said, breaking the silence. She reached into her bag to get her keys out to open the door. Jonathan didn't even realized how they had gotten here, he was so deep in thought to have noticed his surrounds, plus she had lead him her by the wrist. She unlocked the door entered inside, calling for her mother. Jonathan took a peaking side. It wasn't some typical, small apartment. No, it was a large loft. He, himself, was quite surprised that Georgia had a place like this. Then again, who was he to judge? The only places he had ever been to, aside from home, was school and church. Veronica sighed as she placed her bag on the marble counter and went to the fridge to get some ice for the bruise, "Here," She said, walking back towards him with an ice pack, "It'll help with the bruising," She noted, pointing to his head. He took the ice pack from her and place it on the bruise, wincing slightly from the cold pressure. She moved some cushions on the couch to make space for him to sit, "Here, why don't you sit down for a bit while I try to find a first aid kit," She muttered quietly before heading up the stairs. Jonathan sat still on the couch, thinking to himself on what had happened. As he was deep in thought, he failed to see a young boy, about his age, maybe older, walk into the room. He paused as he saw Jonathan.

"Who the hell are you?" The older boy asked, rather rudely. Jonathan jumped in his skin and stood up as he turned to see the boy.

"I-I" He stuttered, he knew this situations would end up badly for him, suddenly footsteps were heard as Veronica reappeared with a first aid kit.

"Ethan! No!" She exclaimed, quickly making her way toward the older one, "Leave him alone! He's a classmate of mine and is terribly injured!" She explained.

"And you brought him here?" He dead panned, "Dad's not gonna be too keen on this..." The boy, Ethan, said with arms crossed.

"Don't be like that, I'm sure Dad will understand when I explained to him what happened," She replied calmly.

"And that is?" He asked, raising a dark, thin brow, "You don't even have any shoes on..." He said. Jonathan looked down at her bare feet and remembered that she threw them at Bo and his goons. How did she managed to walk all the way up here barefooted? He asked himself.

"I threw them at some bullies then maces then in the face," She replied bluntly. Ethan's brows shot up as he was surprised at this. Her voice held that usual detached and blunt tone.

"Okay, maybe dad will believe you..." He said, turning away into the kitchen.

"Why wouldn't he?" She asked. Ethan was about to reply, by he shrugged it off.

"Never mind, I'm Ethan Hale," He said, grabbing a drink, "The older Hale sibling!" He said, "And you are?"

"Jonathan Crane," Jonathan said, he still felt awkward from getting caught by Veronica's older brother.

"Hm..." Ethan hummed as he eyed the younger boy. Veronica sighed as she intervened.

"Will you stop," She frowned at her brother's actions, "If you need anything, we'll be upstairs in my room," She said.

"Oh the room! It's only two weeks and you two are already hitting it off with someone, wow!" He exclaimed, pretending to wipe a tear from his light brown eyes, "My little sis is growing up so fast!" She then took one of the gauze in the first aid and threw it at Ethan who let out a shocked "Hey!" at her. Veronica rolled her eyes at him and grabbed Jonathan by his sleeve leading him upstairs. Veronica opened the door to her room, it was small and cozy. A bed in the middle of the room against the back wall, a work desk next to the bed with piles of book on top, beside it was a dresser, and a closet. There was a large window that was close to the fire escape. She turned to him, sitting down on her bed, "Here, let me clean the blood off," She said, motioning to sit down next to her. He stared at her, narrowing his sapphire eyes at her.

"Why are you helping me?" He asked as she wiped the blood off of his face. Veronica saw that his guard was up again, "You're just going to make things worse for you if you keep helping me..." He trailed off. Veronica shrugged, he had a point, but she already made things harder for herself once she was aquatinted with the school's notorious bad girl, Maya, and self-proclaimed evil, mastermind, genius, Fletcher.

"I supposed so," She replied, "But I told you before," She said, "I like you, why shouldn't I help you?" She asked.

"Because," He paused, trying to recollect his thoughts, "No one helps me, I'm just the school outcast, the Scarecrow," He continued.

"Why? Because you're skinny as a toothpick?" She asked, "If you ask me that's quite childish..."She noted, furrowing her brows together at the nickname, "You ask me they're jealous," He gave her a look, she sighed as she went to explain her conclusion, "From what Maya and Fletcher told me, you're smart, you have a a wide spread vocabulary in class and very articulate," Jonathan was surprised by the slight praise she had for him. He taken a back that he couldn't think on what to reply.

"I-" He was about to reply when there was a knock on the window, startling the two. Veronica stood up and went to the window. She gazed up and saw Maya.

"Hey there, scruff!" Maya said as she climb into the window. Once the dirty blonde saw Jonathan, she smirked, "And Ichabod!" She said. Jonathan paled as he saw the smirk on her lips.

"What are you doing here?" Veronica asked, "And why did you come through the window?" She asked. Maya merely shrugged.

"'Cause why not?" She said. Veronica sighed once again. Ethan popped his head through the door, interrupting whatever what going on.

"Hey there," He said, "Sweater vest is here," He said, Fletcher popped his head into the room,- a smile gracing his lips.

"Ladies," He said with a suave voice.

"Fletcher," The girls greeted. Ethan noticed Maya and greeted her.

"Oh, hey there, blondie," He said, "Didn't know you were here too," Maya merely smiled.

"Hello, cutie," She greeted in a hush voice, but Veronica heard this and elbowed her. Fletcher entered the room and looked at Jonathan.

"Crane," He said.

"Dolton..." Jonathan muttered.

"Oh, look!" Maya exclaimed, clasping her hands together, "The whole gang is here!" She said, "Well since we're all here, let's get that project done!" She said as she and Fletcher exchanged each other knowing looks.

"No thanks," Jonathan declined, he just wanted to leave and head home before he gets in trouble with his great-grandmother, "Besides, we don't have to project on us," He pointed out to his classmates.

"Oh, don't worry about that!" Fletcher exclaimed, he took out a poster board that was lying outside of Veronica's room. Jonathan glared at the self-proclaimed genius. Damn him and his over preparation...He thought bitterly.

"Did you alway had that with you?" Ethan asked, giving the younger genius a puzzled expression.

"Did you really want to know?" He asked the elder Hale. Ethan shook his head and sighed.

"I'm going to be outside, watching some tv," He said. Jonathan held a scowl on his face as he was now stuck here. Maya grinned and wrapped her arms around His shoulder and Veronica's.

"Well this is going to be fun!" She said.

* * *

 **Chapter 4 is up, I'm trying to make this whole relationship go at a steady pace, I like development between characters it give them more of chemistry in my opinion. And to ScaryScarecrow, yes Fletcher is a likeable evil genius mastermind nerd dork, his name is quite unfortunate, the poor soul. Not a professional writer, I apologize for any mistakes. Thank you to all those who followed, favorite, and reviews this story!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"I don't mind, but I really need to clean Jonathan up," Veronica said. Maya's ears perked up.

"'Clean'?" She said, raising a brow. Maya looked over at Jonathan, who was starting to get irritated, "What 'appened Ichabod? You got beat up by Griggs and his idiot friends again?" She dead panned. Fletcher leaned forward to Jonathan

"I wouldn't lie to her if I were you," Fletcher whispered to him. Jonathan gave him an icy glare to which the sweater vest wearing boy backed away from, "Just saying."

"I'm fine, I just need to go home that's all," He said, shrugging Maya's arm off of his shoulder.

"You don't look fine, Ichabod," Maya dead panned.

"I just need to get home now," He persisted.

"Okay, fine, we'll drop you home," Maya said, "But only if you tell us why you wanna go home so badly," She pried. Jonathan scowled, he knew something like this would happen if it involved Maya Wilkinson.

"No," He answered curtly and turned to the door, but Veronica grabbed his hand. He internally jumped. There was a strange tingle as she grasped his bony hand with hers.

"Wait!" She said, her voice wasn't as quiet as usual, "At least wait until my parents arrive, they'll drive you back to your house and explain what happened to you parents," She reasoned. Jonathan paused for a brief moment. She had a point, if an adult explained why he was out late to his grandmother, he wouldn't be punished severely this time. He hoped.

"Fine..." He sighed. He was already in serve trouble as it was already past six. He figured that there was no point in trying anymore.

"Can we work on the project now?" Fletcher asked, timidly.

"Yeah, we might as well start piecing it together," Maya said. Maya jumped onto Veronica's bed, earning a distrained grunt from Veronica.

"Don't jump on the bed," She sighed.

"What are you my mother, scruff?" Maya challenged as she continued to jump on the bed. Veronica pursed her lips into a frown. After a few minutes of continuous jumping, Maya sat of the bed with a small bounce, "Okay, I'm done now!" She said.

"Okay, now with the project we got the Lovings vs. Virginia case," Fletcher said, "Any ideas on how we're gonna put this on the board?" He asked.

"Maybe by the basics, like case background, the defendants, and the verdicts," Veronica suggested.

"That's..." Jonathan trailed off, "...good idea..." He muttered softly.

"Well, it should be organized in a way that could be clear for the others when we present it," Veronica replied.

"Okay, we'll do that!" Fletcher said, taking out a folder from his backpack, "I've got at least 98.5% that we need done! All we have to do is find the impact the this case had for us!" He said.

"Easy, fight the power!" Maya proclaimed, raising her fist up as she laid on the bed.

"Not exactly," Veronica said, "During the time of the case, it was during the Civil Rights movement," She said.

"The Lovings were a couple of two different racial colors," Jonathan added, "They were arrested for being together, Mildred Loving wrote to the Attorney General for help," He continued.

"The couple went to court and appealed to the Supreme Court that the law was unconstitutional, they voted in favor for the Lovings and because of that case, were able to marry who we want to be with," She said.

"Wow," Fletcher said, he then leaned towards Maya's ear, "Maybe they are a good match," He whispered in her ear.

"Told ya," She grinned. Suddenly the opened as a woman with waved brown hair came into the room.

"Mom," Veronica gazed up at the woman.

"Oh, I didn't realized you had friends over," The woman said.

"Actually! We were just leaving, right, Fletcher?" Maya said, grabbing Fletcher from the back of his sweater vest.

"But we just started piecing the project-" He was cut off as she dragged him out the window.

"I'll see Monday, scruff!" She called after her, dragging Fletcher out through the window.

"I should go too," Jonathan said as well.

"Are you sure?" Veronica asked, "Let my brother drive you home, it's quite late now," She said.

"No, I'm fine, I don't want to be more of a bother than I already am..." He sighed.

"Will you stop that," Veronica frowned.

"Stop what?"

"Being so guarded all the time," She pointed out.

"I'm not...guarded all the time..." He denied, defensively.

"You're doing it right now," Veronica pointed out.

"N-no, I'm not!" He continued to deny her accusation.

"Yes you are, and we are now have a small argument that you are being defensive," She said, a small smile to prove her point. Jonathan was at a loss for words as she was right. She took his silence as a yes and ruffled his already mess hair.

"Stop that!" He blanched as he waved her off.

"Oh my gosh! Your hair's so soft and fluffy!" She squealed, messing his hair even more. He blushed slightly as she continued to mess his hair up.

"I said, stop it!" He groaned. He heard her mother let out a small chuckle at the two's antics

"Why aren't you two adorable," She cooed.

"It's not like that, mom," She said, "We're just classmates, and his hair is so soft!" She exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, you two just seem to be very close," The woman noted.

"I can assure you, Mrs. Hale, we're only classmates," Jonathan intervened, maneuvering out of Veronica's grasp so she wouldn't mess with his hair anymore. Though, as annoyed as he felt, there was a strange peace when her fingers ran through them. Jonathan quickly shrugged the thought away and focused back on Veronica, "Thank you for your kind hospitality, but I really must head home now..." He said, walking out of the room. He headed down back to the living room, where he saw Ethan watching tv with and older man. Ethan looked up and saw Jonathan, followed by his sister and mother.

"Oh, hey!" He said, "It's Roni's boyfriend!" He said.

"What! Boyfriend?!" The older man exclaimed, jumping onto his feet. Jonathan paled.

"He's not a boyfriend, dad, calm down," Veronica said, "He's just a friend who was being bullied earlier, I brought him here to patch him up," She explained, "Which reminds me, can you fix his glasses?"

"Yeah, patch him up in _her_ room!" Ethan cooed, making kissing faces.

"Just how old are you?" She crossed her arms, frowning at her brother's antics.

"Old enough to own top of the line laser guns!" He retorted. She scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Anyways, Ethan, Jonathan needs a ride back home," She said.

"Oh, yeah, sure I'll drive him back," He said, getting up from the couch.

"It's fine, I can just walk home," Jonathan said. Veronica shook her head.

"No, it's already quite late, besides who knows if those idiots are still running a muck," She added, referring to Griggs and his gang. Jonathan wanted to protest, but she had a point. It was dark and anything could happen.

"...Fine..."

* * *

 **Here we have chapter 5, I've been a bit brain dead lately, so this chapter isn't really that great. Again sorry for any mistakes and thank you for all the faves, follows, and reviews!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The weekend came and passed as soon as it came, now it was Monday morning. Veronica was eating breakfast in the loft, when Maya came in strolling through her front door.

"Hey there scruff," She greeted, "It's seven o'clock!" Ever since finding out that Maya and Fletcher lived close by, it had become a daily routine for one or both of them to show up at her door.

"I'm coming," She said, grabbing her bag.

"Oh, wait! Veronica!" Her mother, Alexis Hale, called out to her; just as the older woman was descending down the stairs, "Don't forget that you have a recital at the end of the month," Veronica rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Mom, why do we always put up these recitals?" She asked.

"Sweetie, it's so that you can earn a good scholarship from talent scouts," Her mother answered.

"What's this?" Maya squeezed herself into the conversation, "Scruff's got a recital?" She grinned, more ideas for her plan were popping up like little plot bunnies. Veronica turned to her friend.

"It's nothing-" "Oh! Yes!" Her mother cut her off, "Oh, sweetie! You should invite your friends to come!" The woman exclaimed, gleefully. Veronica blanched at the idea, not because she didn't wanted them to see her perform. No, it was mostly because when she performed at recitals, she usually felt herself suffocating from being stared at. But thankfully she had gotten used to it, if she knew that her friends were among the crowd, she might have an anxiety attack.

"I don't know, mom..." She trailed off, "I don't think classical music is..." She paused to think of a better word to describe her predicament, "...fit for Maya's interest..."

"Ah, don' cha worry about that, scruff," Maya waved her off, "Music is music, and I like music!" Veronica eyed the blonde.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Yeah, now c'mon, we're gonna be late!" She said, tugging the girl by the arm as she gripped on her bag.

* * *

Jonathan Crane felt sore as he place his tray down on the table. His whole entire body were enthralled by the severe beating from both Griggs and his great grandmother. He hiss silently as he leaned back. He still felt the painful stings of the lashes he had received from his great grandmother over the weekend. He hoped that they wouldn't reopen and bleed through his clothes. Jonathan heard the scuffling of the chair legs against the floor and gazed up to see Veronica, Maya, and Fletcher.

"Hey there Ichabod!" Maya greeted, patting his back. Jonathan tensed up and bit his tongue, holding back a hiss. Veronica saw how he tensed up and gave him a concerned expression.

"Jonathan, are you okay?" She asked.

"I'm fine," He strained out, "I'm just sore..." He muttered.

"What'd ya been doing, Ichabod?" Maya wondered, "Hard labor or something?" Jonathan winced as she was spot on.

"Something like that..." He muttered, "I help around at the house," He answered.

"Oh, that's right, Ethan said your house was something similar to a farm, must be hard to take care of a place like that," Veronica noted.

"Hm," He hummed. He wasn't in the mood for any talk, he wanted to just wanted to get over with his senior year and move far away from Georgia. His thoughts were interrupted when he felt his head make contact with the tray. A hand forced him down against the table. Great, just what he needed...

"Enjoying your lunch, Scarecrow?" Bo asked, applying more pressure on him.

"Oh, would you look at this degenerative, walk of shame here," Veronica commented, disgusted with him.

"How about you two girls ditched these losers and come hang with me?" Bo flirted with the blonde and brunette.

"Ew," Maya scoffed with disgust. Veronica's face contorted as she pried his hand away from Jonathan.

"I rather be a stay with guys who don't flirt with other girls when they have girlfriends," She replied. Apparently, Bo didn't like how she waved him off and grabbed both Jonathan and Fletcher.

"Apples! Apples!" Fletcher cried as he and Jonathan were flung into the floor. The two groaned as they rolled on their backs. Jonathan winced, he could feel the sting on his back burn. This was the last thing he needed.

"What's so great about these two nerds?" Griggs picked up Fletcher, who continued to cry his safe words, and threw him onto the table.

"Hey! Knock it off!" Maya called out, pulling him off of Fletcher as Veronica went to the young Dolton boy and help him up.

"Fletcher! Are you alright?" She asked.

"I'm fine, I'm sure that that's definitely going to leave a bruise..." He strained as he sat up, rubbing his back. He got off the table and the two went to Jonathan, who was still on the floor.

"Jonathan," She helped him and placed her hand gently on his back.

"I'm fine!" He snapped, taking his arm out of her grasp. He stood up, ignoring their attempts to help her.

"Aw, look at the new girl helping out the nerds," Bo cooed. Veronica huffed as she ignored his taunting.

"Ugh," She rolled her eyes and turned around, "How mature..." She scoffed, "Let's just go guys," She said, as Maya was helping Fletcher. Maya paused as she gazed back at Bo.

"You better keep one eye open tonight, Griggs," She smirked maliciously, "Remember I know where you live," The four exited the cafeteria, heading to their next class.

"Why are always helping me?" Jonathan asked the trio, specifically Veronica.

"I told you before, Jonathan," She sighed, "I like you, you're a really smart guy," She said.

"That's not what I mean," He muttered.

"Then what do you mean?" She asked, raising a brow.

"I mean, you know that everyone picks on me, yet you still want to be around me..." He trailed off. It was awkward for him, a girl pretty like her wanting to be around him. It was a first. Usually no one would willing want to be around with him.

"Well maybe I want to be around you, maybe I want to be your friend," She answered, calmly.

"What if I don't want you to be my friend?" He questioned, she merely smiled.

"Well then too bad, I'm still going to be hanging around with you," She replied. It was at this point that Jonathan knew that there was no point in telling this girl otherwise. He would just have to put up with her persistency to be his friend.

"Oh good!" Maya clasped her hands together, "We're finally solidifying our band of misfits friendship!" She said.

"'Our'?" Jonathan echoed.

"Well, duh," The blonde said, wrapping her arm around Veronica's shoulder, "Scruff's my friend, and if you're gonna be her friend, then you're my friend as well, by default!" She answered, "And because of that! How about we head to this cool diner after school?" She asked, "Its pretty good, if you ask me!"

"Sure, I have nothing to do at home," Veronica answered.

"I'll go wherever Maya goes," Fletcher sighed dreamily, leaning against Maya as he stared up at her since she was slightly taller than him.

"So, what'd ya say, Ichabod?" Maya asked, giving Jonathan a look. He shifted his eyes at them and sighed. He really hated their persistency.

"Fine..." He muttered.

Later on, the four met up at said diner. Veronica looked up at the diner as they headed inside.

"So we've got the project done, but we've got bigger things to deal with!" Maya said.

"And that is?" Veronica asked as they all took a seat.

"The Halloween party is coming up, and although these type of things aren't really my style, it'll be fun to mess with the socs!" She grinned at the idea.

"I can finally wear my cape without being judge!" Fletcher grinned at the thought.

"Don't say that again," Maya hushed the boy, "Makes you even more of a nerd," She added. Fletcher pouted and sighed.

"When's this party?" Veronica asked, curious. Jonathan wasn't really interested in the conversation and was deep in thought, trying to remember how he gotten dragged into this.

"It's at the end of next month," Maya answered. Jonathan huffed, incoherent grumblings escaping his lips. Veronica elbowed him in the ribs for his rudeness.

"I don't know, Maya," She muttered, "I have to practice for my recitals," She said.

"Oh, that's right!" The blonde nodded, "Your mom said something that you had a recital this months!" At this Veronica shrunk slowly in her seat as they all, including Jonathan, stared at her.

"You play something?" Fletcher asked, curiosity peaking his evil, genius, mastermind.

"Yes, the violin..."She replied, shrinking away even more. The one thing that Veronica Hale hated was being uncomfortable. And being stared at by her misfits of friends was making her very uncomfortable.

"I heard you play the violin at the library on your first day," Jonathan recalled, "I understand that you were talented, but I didn't expect that you were a professional," He noted. Veronica shyly smiled and looked away.

"My mom thought that if I played an instrument, it would help with scholarships and look good on my records..." She explained, "I wanted to learn the cello, but she got me a violin instead..." She chuckled at the memory.

"She's not wrong," Jonathan muttered.

"That's true, but it's not that I don't like play the violin, I just-"

"Don't want it to be the only thing that defines you..." Maya interrupted. There was an unfamiliar expression from Jonathan's point of view. As if she understood what it was like to be known for something you're not.

"You wanted another adjective..." Fletcher finished the blonde's sentence. Jonathan watched the three, particularly Maya and Fletcher.

He never viewed them to understand how he felt. Being judge for how you look or act, being something you're not. Perhaps he was wrong to think like that. He always viewed Maya as the notorious bad girl that she was and Fletcher to be the teacher's pet with a coy attitude and a "Evil, genius, mastermind" complex. He guessed that the phrase "Don't judge a book by its cover" was true.

The next day, Veronica entered her first period, taking a seat next to Crane. Jonathan was sporting a black eye and there was also a crack in his glasses. She sighed upon seeing his disheveled appearance.

"Was is Griggs again?" She asked. Jonathan looked back at her and huffed.

"Sadly no..." He muttered, "I haven't see that idiot the whole morning..." Veronica narrowed her eyes, If Griggs didn't do this then who? She thought.

"Jonathan, who did this?" She asked.

"Don't bother yourself with it..." He waved her off.

"Jonathan, this isn't something you can handle by yourself," She pressed, "If this bullying continues the way it is, you might get seriously hurt!"

"I didn't ask you involved!" He snapped, quietly though, since they were in class. Veronica gave him a stern stare before huffing, and faced the board. She was really getting annoyed with his guarded nature. He needed to take some of her help if this was too much for him. Once class as over, Veronica stood up and headed to the library. She sighed and looked around the library. She hoped that they would have the book she was looking for. After a few minutes of searching, she finally found the book she was searching for. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Some time later on, during lunch, Jonathan was trying to eat his lunch in peace. Keyword trying. Bo was still flicking pieces of his food at his back. Jonathan sighed, trying to contain his frustration when Veronica pulled up a seat next to him, holding out a book towards him.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Read it!" She said. He raised a brow at her.

"Why?"

"Ssh!" She hushed him, "No questions, just read it!" She pressed, handing the book towards him. He took the book and gazed down at the title.

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow?" He questioned.

"It's one of my favorite books, alright!" She said, "Read it! I think it'll help you," He gave her a look and sighed.

"I doubt that a book would have any solution to my problems..." He muttered.

"You won't know if you do t try, please read it! For me?" She grasp his hand, making him flinch slightly. Green eyes staring into his piercing blue ones. He frowned and grumbled to himself.

"Fine, but only because you're so persistent on having me read this." She gave him a smile and pushed the book closer to him. She soon stood up and left, leaving Jonathan to himself as he sighed. She'll be the end of him.

* * *

 **When you get into a new fandom you tend to get into a bit much. But that doesn't mean I putting this story off, I just need time to think of the storyline since this background origin is strictly made up from my mind. Sorry for any mistakes and if this chapter doesn't seem that great.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Once Jonathan arrived home, he was thankful that Granny had yet to arrive home. He was still healing from the wound she inflicted on him over the weekend. He slowly made his way upstairs to his room, the floorboards of the old wooden stairs creaking with each step. Upon reaching his room, he opened the door and closed it softly behind him before throwing his bag onto his bed. Once it made contact on the edge of the bed, the book Veronica gave him slipped out, hitting the floor with a thud. Jonathan walked over to his bed, picking the book up. He stared at the title, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. He supposed he might as well read this to pass the time.

Time had passed by quickly as he read. He was instantly hooked onto the book as he felt a strong connection to the book's main character. Ichabod Crane. How ironic, especially since that was one of the his nicknames. By the time he was half way done reading the book, Jonathan looked up to see that it was started to darken outside the small window. The time passed by so quickly that he didn't even noticed. Sighing, he suppose he would retire for the night.

The next day at school was a definite surprise. Not once had he seen Bo or his crew for his daily beatings or taunts in the morning. It was...how would he put this? Calming. Weird and way off Bo's character, but calming. He enter his first period and, to add more to his surprise, saw that Veronica had not arrive. From the past few weeks he had known her, she was alway in class before the other students or the bell rung. How odd, he thought to himself. Usually he wouldn't care and move on with his studies, but deep down, a part of him was quite worried.

Lunch rolled by, where Maya pulled up a seat next to him, "Have you seen scruff today?" She asked, "Or the nerd?" She added, referring to Fletcher.

"No, I have not, perhaps the two of them are both sick?" He inquired. It was plausible, but he knew it was highly unlikely.

"No way, Fletcher's a teacher's pet, he would skip gym than take a day off from school because of a cold, he enjoys homework more than life itself."

"That is a statement that we can both agree on," Jonathan agreed.

"And I swung by at scruff's house and her mom said that she left for school already," Maya continued, making him furrow his brows together.

"Wha-how? I didn't see her at all today," He said.

"Neither have I, same with Fletcher! That guy would usually see me around and follows me like a lost puppy, but he wasn't around at all," She said, she sat there quietly for a moment before speaking again, "Something's up, Crane," Jonathan's brows shot up. Usually Maya would refer to him by her usual nickname for him, but hearing her call him by his last name means that she was dead serious. Maya flickered her eyes past him and narrowed them, "And I'm 100% sure that they've got something to do with it," She glared over at Bo and Sherry, laughing with their popular and sporty friends. Jonathan turned towards their direction. He couldn't help but agree, Griggs had not once came up to him to mess with him in any sort of way. As the odd duo sent glares at their way, the bell rung signaling to head to their next class. They stood up, eyes still trained of the group before they left.

History seemed dull not seeing their two missing friends. What had happened? Maya had left the cafeteria to search for them, though he knew that she was most likely going to threaten of either Bo or Sherry's pack members, As soon as Dolton came in, he went straight towards Jonathan, much to the boy's chagrin. "Have you seen Fletcher?" He asked, the expression of any worried parent marred to his face.

"No, I haven't," Jonathan shook his head.

"I swear I saw him at school today!" Dolton swore. Jonathan merely sat there as he watched his teacher pace around in front of his desk. No later than a few seconds, Maya returned to the classroom, dragging one of Bo's followers. Dolton and everyone else averted their attention to her, "Maya! What is this?" The history teacher asked.

"Tell him what you told me now, or you're going to wish that being expelled was the best thing that ever happened to you!" She threatened the boy she held. Her sharp nails digging into the kid's skin.

"Ow! Okay, okay!" He cried, "It went too far okay! Bo went too far!" He yelped.

"Mr. Moore, what on earth are you talking about?" Dolton asked. Jonathan leaned forward as he was silently taking the pleasure of seeing one of his tormentors' face contort with both fear and pain.

"That scrawny kid with the braces," He said, "Bo thought that it would be funny if we..." He trailed off, looking away from the teacher.

"From what?" Dolton narrowed his eyes at the teen. He shrunk. And Jonathan tied his hardest to smirk at his reaction.

"...If we stuck him in the freezer..."

"You did what?!" Dolton's eyes widened. At the sound of his voice rising, Moore flinched and Crane was now sporting a smug smirk. Ah, how he enjoyed the look on his face.

"I told him to stop, but he threatened me that he would put me in there as well!" Dolton sighed and rubbed his forehead, he was furious, but as a teacher he need to keep his temper in che-ah screw it! The teacher had just found out that his son was thrown into a freeze, no way was he going to play it like a professional!

"We'll deal with you and Mr. Griggs punishment later, show me where my son is now!" He demanded, his eyes trained on the teen with venom. And that was what the teen did.

They arrived at the old culinary room that was going under renovations when they heard faint banging. Moore went over to the old walk-in freezer and unlocked it. Fletcher was rubbing his hands together as a poor attempt to warm his arms.

"Oh thank god, I thought I was gonna freeze to death!" Fletcher cried through shivering teeth. "Who the hell makes a walk-in freezer that cold! Like seriously! Why make a lock on the outside if you can't open it from the inside if you get trapped?!" Dolton and Maya grabbed an old blacker that was laying around and wrapped it around the shivering boy. Jonathan took a peak inside the freezer and saw nothing but cold ice.

"Veronica wasn't here with you?" He asked.

"N-no, why? S-something happened t-to her?" Fletcher asked, teeth still chattering.

"Are you talking about that cute new girl with the mace that threw her shoes at me?" Moore asked. They all have him a glare, more specifically Jonathan for some reason, and he shrunk back. "I heard that Sherry and her squad was having a talk with her," He continued.

"I knew that blonde bimbo had something to do with this..." Maya muttered bitterly.

"Alright, you two," Dolton said, referring to Jonathan and Maya, "Try to find her, see what happened." Jonathan was about to protest, not that he didn't care, he thought it wasn't his business. But Maya grabbed his arm and dragged him away from the old culinary room.

"Okay, you go that way and I'll go the other way," She said, Jonathan groaned.

"You know this isn't really our business..." He countered.

"Are you kidding me? Our friends go missing and one is found locked in a freezer while the other is who knows where while that blonde bimbo you have a crush on is God forbids know what she's doing!" Jonathan seemed flabbergasted.

"I-I don't have a crush on Sherry-" He denied.

"Shut up, Crane, I'm not blind," Maya said, "I've seen the way you look at her in sixth period," She continued, her arms now crossed. There was now a smirk on her lips, "But I've seen something else too," She said.

"And that is?" He asked, giving her a suspicious look.

"You're conflicted now whenever you look at Squires," She grinned, "Your eyes don't linger around on her form anymore, you've been busing yourself in your books now."

"And what makes you say that?"

"Well, I'd say that you're start to have a crush on someone else now," Maya said. Her grin grew more into a smile, making Jonathan more suspicious of her. "Look Crane, I don't blame you, you've had a crush on Squires for who knows how long and now you've got a new crush on someone else and you feel conflicted! You want to see if the girl you like for a while will give you chance, yet this new crush defiantly has its way to get you to reconsider that."

"And who do you suppose I have a new crush on?" He inquired.

"Oh someone we both know," She said, "Someone cute, with a great personality, and is super, amazingly smart like you!" She pressed, he stared after her. "The perfect girl that's just your type."

"As flatter as that sounds, I'm not interested, Maya..." He shut down. The blonde instantly rolled her eyes.

"Not me, idiot!" She said, "I mean scruff!" He let out choked laughter.

"You think that I have a crush on Veronica?"

"I think, that you just don't know that you do."

"So you say," He muttered, walking into the other direction to search for Veronca. Maya smirked and continued her search in the opposite direction.

Jonathan seemed a bit annoyed, he was searching through the halls. The repetitive colors of the lockers against the walls. Oddly enough the silence of the vacant halls would start to worry him if he didn't hear the sounds of music faintly playing and soft humming following as well. He walked by the custodian's closet, hearing the music more prominently louder as he leaned against the door. He sighed and opened it, revealing Veronica hunched over a chair as she had a music player on and playfully strung on her violin. She looked up and saw Jonathan.

"Hi..." She said dully, her eyes trained of the ground.

"Where the hell were you?" He asked.

"I believe the term is called, 'chilling like a villain'..." She quoted as he sighed and gave her a look.

"You weren't in class all day because you were 'chilling like a villain'?" He questioned.

"I suppose when you say it like that, it does sound quite unjustified..." She admitted. Jonathan furrowed his brows at the off tone in her voice. It was brimming between both apathetic and something else that he couldn't quite describe.

"Veronica, what happened?" He asked, awkwardly tiring to be concerned with her well-being. There was a long, pregnant silence of staring at one another before she sighed and paused the music player.

"They said I was a nobody, that I was nothing, and if I died no one would even notice, not even my parents..." She averted her eyes back to the ground. Silence filled the air, which started to worry her, "If you want to say something, now would be any better time than nev-" She was cut off when he wrapped his arms, awkwardly around her. She supposed that this was his way of hugging him, but it was hard to tell since this was Jonathan Crane. The boy that denied any sort of affection and kept that guarded wall around himself.

"I-uh-" He stuttered, pulling away from the awkward hug, "I read in some books that a hug is required in situations especially like this," He muttered, "That it's something that friends should do..." He took one glance at her facial expression and saw that she seemed completely neutral towards this. How strange...

"I wouldn't know, I've never actually had a friend do anything like this in certain situations like this," Jonathan raised a brow at her. Was this not the first time she had been in this type of situation? "To be frank, on a scale of 1 to 10, this makes at least an 8," She said.

"An eight?" He exclaimed. This was certainly not an eight!

"I've heard worse over the years at my other school, and I came to the conclusion that hiding out in the custodian's closet listening to music helps as my own coping mechanism..." She shrugged.

"No, that's not okay, you need to tell someone, keeping it bottled up is not a healthy for someone your age," Jonathan informed her. She tilted her head to the side as he was spurring all of this psychological information.

"Jonathan, Jonathan, calm yourself, I'm perfectly fine, I've learned to just life with what people think and just get over it and move on," She said, he stared at her, silently before her opened his mouth to reply.

"Was this why you moved here?" He questioned, "Because what they said at your old school?" He pressed. She merely sighed and rubbed the side of her arm with one hand.

"Look, Jonathan, it's fine, I'll be fine, I just need some space to think this all through, nothing to worry about." So she says, but he couldn't help but worry. He knew what affects situations like this had on people, mostly from his first hand experiences. She patted his back and pushed him out of the room before closing the door.

Jonathan ran a hand through his dark locks and made his way back to class, there was a voice in the back of his head telling him to just go back and demanded her who was it that said those things to her. Yet the rational side of him was telling him to just stop and continue on with his life. Oh how this girl was turning his world upside down. Perhaps Maya was right, not on the crush theory, but that he was indeed conflicted.

* * *

 **So not much progress was made with this chapter, but you know what I posted this anyways. I hope that I didn't make Crane too ooc, I just have this picture in my mind that he's the type of teen to be very guard, but still have a variety of emotions since he's still a teen. Sorry for any mistakes.**


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